Committees

The AIHW chairs, is a member of, or provides the secretariat for, a large number of national committees and supports health and welfare investment by providing statistical expertise in a range of health, housing and community services areas. Some committees are concerned with developing standards or performance indicators, whilst others are internal committees supporting projects to widen our influence on public debate.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Ethics Committee is established under section 16(1) of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987. The Committee is required to advise on the ethical acceptability of AIHW activities involving information which can identify a person ('identifiable data').

The Advisory Committee on Functioning and Disability Data (ACFADD) aims to improve the quality and consistency of Australian data on disability and functioning. A committee advising the director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in this capacity has been in existence since 1996. ACFADD advises on disability data and data standards in the health and community sectors, as well as promoting and improving the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Australia.

The Housing and Homelessness Information Management Group (HHIMG) met for the first time in June 2009—it assumes the roles previously undertaken by the National Committee for Housing Information (NCHI) and the SAAP Information Sub Committee (SAAP ISC). HHIMG is responsible for advising the Housing & Homelessness Policy Research Working Group (HHPRWG) on national housing and homelessness matters and HHPRWG, through the HHIMG’s Chair, reports the activities of HHIMG to the Housing Ministers’ Advisory Committee (HMAC).

The Australasian Association of Cancer Registries (AACR) consists of the eight Australian state and territory cancer registries, the New Zealand Cancer registry and the National Cancer Statistics Clearing House at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The Australian Hospital Statistics Advisory Committee advises the Institute on the compilation of its annual Australian Hospital Statistics reports and on data development work related to hospitals. It includes an invited expert and representatives of each of the state and territory health authorities, the Australian Department of Health, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Private Health Insurance Administration Council, the Australian Healthcare Association, the Australian Private Hospitals Association, the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the Clinical Casemix Committee of Australia and the National Centre for Classification in Health.

The Cardiovascular Disease Monitoring Advisory Committee is the national data advisory group reporting to the National Heart, Stroke and Vascular Health Strategies Group (NHSVHSG). This Working Group has grown out of the advisory committee to the National Centre for Monitoring Cardiovascular Disease, located at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The Working Group maintains its role as the advisory committee to the National Centre, as well as takes on the broader role as the data working group for the NHSVHSG.

The Children's Services Data Working Group (CSDWG) was set up in 1998 to improve national children's services data. It is a subgroup of the National Community Services Information Management Group (NCSIMG). The main role of the Children's Services Data Working Group (CSDWG) is to develop and implement a National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) that would provide the first complete picture of children participating in childcare and preschool in Australia.

The Chronic Kidney Disease Monitoring Advisory Committee (CKDMAC) is the national advisory group for the National Centre for Monitoring Chronic Kidney Disease. The committee is made up of relevant experts- eminent kidney clinicians, epidemiologists, a general practitioner representative, an expert in Indigenous health, and nursing and patient representatives.

This committee oversees the development of health expenditure statistics and meets two or three times a year. It provides a mechanism for both data users and data suppliers of health expenditure statistics to give advice and assistance to the Institute about the methods used in developing the national estimates and the way those estimates are presented and analysed.

The Housing and Homelessness Information Management Group (HHIMG) met for the first time in June 2009—it assumes the roles previously undertaken by the National Committee for Housing Information (NCHI) and the SAAP Information Sub Committee (SAAP ISC). HHIMG is responsible for advising the Housing & Homelessness Policy Research Working Group (HHPRWG) on national housing and homelessness matters and HHPRWG, through the HHIMG’s Chair, reports the activities of HHIMG to the Housing Ministers’ Advisory Committee (HMAC).

The International Group on Indigenous Health Measurement (IGIHM) is a network of people from government and non-government arenas from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States who are united in the desire to improve the collection, analysis, dissemination and use of health information for Indigenous populations.

The Juvenile Justice Research and Information Group (JJ RIG) is a sub-committee of the Australasian Juvenile Justice Administrators (AJJA) and is responsible for developing comparable national juvenile justice data and key performance indicators. It consists of representatives from each State and Territory department responsible for juvenile justice, as well as the AIHW, the ABS, the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Productivity Commission. The JJ RIG is chaired by a member of AJJA (currently South Australia) with secretariat support provided by the AIHW. Through AJJA, the JJ RIG also reports to the National Community Services Information Management Group (NCSIMG).

The National Advisory Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information and Data (NAGATSIHID) was established following a decision taken at the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC) meeting in October 2000. The role of NAGATSIHID is to provide broad strategic advice to the AHMAC and its National e-Health and Information Principal Committee (NEHIPC) on ways of improving the quality and availability of data and information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and health service delivery; and to draw together the range of Indigenous health information management activities into a coordinated and strategic process.

The National Child Information Advisory Group (NCIAG) was established by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in 2007 to provide advice to AIHW from a range of perspectives on children's health, development and wellbeing information issues. The membership of this group consists of many of the same people who served on the Picture of Australia's Children Advisory Group, which provided advice to AIHW on previous child and youth health publications and indicators from 2003-2005.The NCIAG seeks advice from a wide variety of experts in order to develop indicators to measure aspects of child health, development and wellbeing in line with recent national and international developments.

The National Community Services Information Management Group (NCSIMG) is a sub-committee of the Community and Disability Services Ministers' Advisory Council (CDSMAC). NCSIMG was established by, and to manage the operations of, the National Community Services Information Agreement.

The NDDWG was formed originally in 1997. Several changes have occurred over the years and this revision of the Terms of Reference reflects the changed responsibilities of this Committee. The NDDWG is a multidisciplinary committee, which contains representatives from Australian Government, consumers and general practice and diabetes-related professionals. This data working group is the advisory committee to the National Centre for Monitoring Diabetes [incorporating the National Diabetes Register (NDR)], located at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and also provides national advice on diabetes data to other groups as required.

The National Disability Information Management Group (NDIMG) is a specially constituted meeting of the DPRWG. The Data Network is a working group of the NDIMG and provides high-level direction to and technical advice to the NDIMG.

The National Health Information Standards and Statistics Committee (NHISSC) is a standing committee of the National E-Health and Information Principal Committee (NEHIPC). NEHIPC is one of several principal committees that report to the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC). AHMAC provides support to the Australian Health Ministers' Conference (AHMC) under arrangements for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

The National Indicators Advisory Group (NIAG) provides high-level advice to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) for its National Safety and Quality Indicators Project. The National Safety and Quality Indicators Project has as its mission the identification of a select, well-integrated suite of indicators that can be used to evaluate and monitor the performance of Australia's health system in optimising safety and quality in the delivery of health services. The project is being undertaken by Health Care Safety and Quality Unit at the AIHW, on behalf of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. The NIAG draws its membership from the major stakeholders and leading experts covering the main components of Australia's health-care system.

The National Indigenous Reform Agreement Performance Information Management Group (NIRAPIMG) was established in July 2009 to play a lead role in decision-making on Indigenous data issues for the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (Closing the Gap) and other relevant National Agreements as part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations.

The National Maternity Data Development Project Advisory Group was established to assist in the development of a nationally consistent and comprehensive maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity data collection in Australia.

The NMDS Subcommittee was established by the Mental Health Information Strategy Subcommittee (MHISS) to oversee the development and implementation of the National Minimum Data Sets for Mental Health Care.

The National opioid pharmacotherapy statistical annual data (NOPSAD) collection working group supports the development, coordination, collection, quality improvement and reporting of the NOPSAD collection.